Tomato Soup: Enough Said
by The.Melanarchist
Summary: The famous skit in which Kratos reveals his intense loathing for tomatoes to Genis' dismay and Lloyd's surprise. No major spoilers, unless you're incredibly perceptive and willing to jump to conclusions... Oneshot


**(A/N) So I said I would do a Kratos-Tomato skit, and ... here it is! I also find tomatoes repulsive, and when I played the game, was delighted to find out that I am not alone in this regard. Not exactly sure how the skit with the quote at the end went, but this is how I like to think it went.**

**Disclaimer: On my honor, I DON'T OWN IT, and please do not make me say it again, it hurt enough the first time...**

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Genis was rifling through some papers in his bag. The journey had been so eventful, that he hadn't had any time to sort through them. The mess was uncharacteristic of him, and it was beginning to nag. So, as the whole party sat around a campfire on a blissfully cool night, he decided to organize. The crack of the flames and an occasional flip of pages were quite calming. Raine was reading one of her newer archeology books that they picked up in Asgard, Colette was watching Lloyd carve her very, very late birthday present, and Kratos was always the wary one, silently keeping watch. Genis was creating separate piles of parchment, and had a place for cooking, history, magic spells, and a couple other things. Coming across a particularly rumpled piece of information, his face lit up.

"Lloyd!" Genis called out in excitement, "I finally found that old recipe I was looking for!"

Lloyd looked up from the necklace with mild interest, not for the recipe per se, but rather for the food. He could probably eat just about anything new at this point. Everyone was getting pretty tired of sandwiches, and if he ever had to see another cabbage roll, his stomach might start churning. They were actually quite good at first, but repetition had seriously ruined his taste for them. Involuntarily, his stomach growled in anticipation of Genis' good cooking. He set down the now-forgotten necklace on the rock he was sitting on.

"Which one?" he inquired with genuine enthusiasm, looking across the flames at his best friend. Genis' silver hair was flashing orange from the fire, and he held up the paper for Lloyd to see.

"It's tomato-soup!" He said proudly, "Now we have something to put all those tomatoes in that have been piling up!" Lloyd's face fell, and he wrinkled his nose.

"Oh, I don't really like tomatoes." He turned back to his work dully. Genis raised an eyebrow, trying to keep Lloyd's small attention span occupied.

"How can you not like tomatoes, Lloyd? They're a super-food, with all sorts of anti-oxidants and stuff. They're really good for you!" Lloyd blinked. Genis remembered that kind of reasoning wouldn't work with Lloyd and tried for a simpler approach. "But they're_ red_! You love the color red!"

"I don't know, it's something about the texture, and the taste, they're just awful!" Lloyd shook his head. "I've tried them a couple of times, and I just can't eat them."

Genis gave his friend a hard look. How was he supposed to use up all the tomatoes if Lloyd wouldn't eat them? Lloyd ate about half of the food he cooked. Maybe he could convince Lloyd by appealing to his ego. Lloyd's training was coming along well with Kratos, but Genis knew Lloyd still felt inferior on the battlefield. It was true that Kratos was older, but the magnitude of the difference between their levels of skill was immense. Maybe if Kratos liked tomatoes…

"Lloyd, I'll bet Kratos likes tomatoes, and that's why he's a good swordsman." Genis knew the reasoning was poor, but he only had to persuade Lloyd, and how hard could that be? Genis hadn't noticed that Kratos was listening to their conversation, but he saw his eyes narrow slightly at the mention of his name.

"So Kratos, don't you like tomatoes? My tomato-soup is really good!" Genis asked sweetly, looking at Lloyd the whole time, who was now glaring daggers at him. Kratos' mouth pressed into a thin line.

"No." He said shortly, still looking into the flames that cast dancing shadows on his face. Genis was getting exasperated, Kratos ate almost any recipe, yet the _one_ thing he wouldn't eat was the only recipe Genis wanted to make? He wouldn't settle it that easily.

"Aw, come on, they're not bad!" Genis coaxed. Kratos didn't seem to strongly like or dislike anything for that matter, so why take a stand on tomatoes of all things?

Kratos' face contorted briefly into something akin to disgust, but possibly stronger than that. It looked like outright repulsion.

"I'd rather eat grass." He said seriously. There was a long period of silence.

Genis shut up and went back to organizing. Lloyd shot him an I-told-you-so smile and continued his carving, with new-found respect for the mercenary.

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**(A/N) Yup, had fun writing that one... Lloyd and Kratos' dislike for tomatoes is quite obvious when you see that they refuse to cook dishes with tomatoes in them during the game (if you missed the "I'd rather eat grass" skit, cuz I find it hard to get that one through each playthrough.) Please Review! XD**


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